Sinking and Paintings
by hilsfoolishginger
Summary: Short little story i thought of one boring afternoon. Jack and Kate share an awkward conversation after the kiss. oneshot most likely


This is my first Lost fic, and I'm a total Jater for multiple reasons (but that's for another story). I'd say it's a one-shot, but you never know. Just a short thing that I created on the laptop while listening to Buckley, Amos, and The Cure (respectively, of course). I didn't mean to go anywhere with the few short lines, but my creativity juices start flowing after I get started (wish they'd come earlier, but it's not that easy!). I haven't really written in a while, but I think it makes sense, even if not my greatest effort.

Well, anyway, enough ramble- it's just a short idea I had and perhaps you'll like it:

For a while he stood afar from the other side of the beach watching her stern look as she stared down at her toes, slowly yet surely sinking further into the sand. He smiled at her seriousness and her concentration as she steadied her feet against the current and shifting beneath her.

"Jack."

Jack's gaze was broken as his smile faded and turned his head to face the Australian accent. "Yeah?"

"Can I go now? I think Aaron's full." She fixed Aaron under her arms to get a better grip of his ever growing body as Jack looked at the content baby. He offered Claire a smile as he looked back up at her.

"He looks full enough for a few days… you can go." She returned his smile and headed off back to a worried Charlie, his face pale. As Jack heard her muffled conversation with the fearful Charlie begin, his grin turned into a half smile, half squint as he turned back around to find Kate with the same look at her feet.

He wanted to be a part of her sinking game; she looked peaceful, in a way, and although with a look of seriousness on her face, also like she enjoying herself and the island. He glanced behind him to make sure no one needed any more help, and began his walk to her. His gaze diverted back and forth from the sand collapsing and enveloping his feet as he walked to Kate, who was now looking at the horizon, her feet still shifting as she tried to balance herself. This picture was mesmerizing to Jack; it looked like something out of an otherworldly painting, with the sunrise creating shades of blue and orange and purple and smudging them together, with the dappled white clouds that gave the appearance that some wind has been knocking them back and forth. The trees lightly shook in the wind in the same rhythm that Kate's messy half bun/half down hair did. Her off white colored blouse rippled from the breeze and was quite the contrast to her sparkling green, concentrated eyes. Jack had never wished he had a camera more than now; he was never much the one for art, mainly because he couldn't draw things other than stick figures, but his appreciation for beauty was high, nevertheless. And he couldn't keep his eyes off the sight in front of him.

And then, all of a sudden, as his trampling of sand got closer, Kate ruined the painting by shifting her head to face him as the pounding of sand caught her ear. He froze as she looked at him with a look- a look not of fear or even surprise, but a look more of solicitude, with a hint of uncertainty, and yet also a quick indication of compassion. They held the stare for what seemed like hours, though only a few seconds passed until Kate felt the sand shift all to the left foot under her as the current pulled her the opposite direction. The surprise and realization that she hadn't been paying attention to her balance registered on her face for a split second as she took a sideways dive to the ground. Jack's thoughts of the painting and her stare broke as he rushed to her, feet pounding frustratingly into the sand, and he didn't think, but he ran.

"Kate, are you all right?" He asked as he kneeled down to the slowly sitting up Kate, who had hit her head against the firmer, wetter sand. She rubbed the back of it as she collected herself.

"Yeah…a bit dizzy though…"

"Do you want me to take you to the hatch to rest?"

"No, no, no, it's getting better.. it's nothing" she insisted, waving him away. Ever the stubborn one.

"Are you sure? I mean, I don't want to risk it getting worse…"

She wondered why even a little accident like this could make Jack so worried. Was he just a worrying man? Did this strange island make him extra nervous? Or was it just her? She figured it was at least a combination of all three, causing him to worry over trifling things. He's always been a stubborn one, caring too much over everything…

Surprisingly, considering their awkwardness around each other ever since the kiss a week or so ago, she gave him a small smile signaling she was fine. He, just as confused around her as she was with he, couldn't help but to return her endearing smile with one of his own.

"It's kinda dangerous, huh?"

She nodded as she looked down at her knees, half smiling, and then looked away back at the sea. He took the hint that she wasn't sure what to say and he found that the vivid sky above him was quite entertaining to stare at. Especially when you're too afraid to say something. But his half smile still remained on his face, recalling the 'painting.' Neither one seemed to have anything to say. Or was it too much to say? Jack finally gathered his strength and looked Kate, who was staring out at the horizon as she often did.

He bit his lip and muttered. "Mind if I stay awhile and try it? It looks fun."

She swayed her head to face him, biting her lip a bit as well. "Go ahead." She tried to smile, or at least sound friendly, but it didn't really come out that way.

He stood up and planted his feet a foot or so away from the sitting Kate. He waved his arms as he tried to balance himself out with the rapid sand shifting underneath him. Kate couldn't help a chuckle as he nearly fell on his face a couple of times. Once he fell backwards, she stood up, laughing, and offered him a hand.

"Here, let me show you how." She planted her feet about a half a foot away from him as he got back on his feet.

"You have to move your feet with the sand and make sure one side doesn't get too heavy."

He nodded, turning his feet every time a current flipped the sand underneath him. She smiled, watching him. "There you go."

After a little while of trying to balance themselves, Kate couldn't keep herself so contained anymore. Standing there, watching Jack trying to balance himself on the beach right next to her, and he looked like.. well, she wasn't exactly sure. He was good looking, there was no doubt about that, but she felt.. comforted, even, maybe happy. When he caught her gaze, and his eyes lit as he shared her smile that she forgot she still had on, she thought of.. well, she thought of home. Not home with a drunken Wayne and desperate mother trying to help her family. Before that: the autumns when Kate would wander about the farm and the woods in the cool air and then come back to the warm living room and fireplace at night. Jack reminded her of safety and comfort and warmth.

"Jack, I'm sorry that I ran away after we, umm.." She saw him remembering the kiss on his face. "I, I didn't think… I couldn't help it, when you held me and I looked into your eyes…" she struggled for the right words, "I felt safe and finally at peace… but then when I pulled away, I realized I would mess it up again.. that I would just drag you along with me.. so I did the only thing I know how to do well.. I ran…" She wasn't sure if she explained it well, or what he would think, and she just looked at the water.

"Kate."

She looked up at him. But the look on his face signaled to her that he wasn't sure how to respond, that his emotions were just as jumbled. He smiled, then frowned, then played with his lip with his tongue inside his mouth.

"I was hurt that you ran…"

"It's what I know.. I run when I'm confused, can't handle a situation… I wish I could be more like you, deal with problems…"

He smiled and shook his head. "I'm not perfect like you think. I make mistakes a lot, Kate. I guess I don't always handle them the way I should, but I try."

She looked at him, studying him. After looking out at the horizon for a few moments himself, he looked at her looking at him. He started to see tears forming in her eyes and frowned.

"Kate?"

She shut her eyes and shook her head, as if trying to shake the tears out of her face.

"I've made so many mistakes.. and I still do.. and I just run from them… I thought this island would erase that… fresh start, you know? But it hasn't… and I just don't know what will."

"Maybe you overlooked something. Maybe the island, or whatever it is, won't make you different.. but it will make you see yourself differently… it'll open your eyes, and then maybe you'll figure it out on your own. You know I've got your back through all of it."

She looked at him again, with the same look she gave him in the jungle the day just before they kissed. It was still windy and chilly, but Jack's words gave her warmth as she realized that they had a trust, a bond, and that he'd always be there for her.

She took his hand in hers, looking up at him and he offered a comforting smile. She returned it with a small one of her own. Pondering on what to say, he focused a stare on Kate's legs, which were covered in sand just past her ankles.

"Wow, you're in pretty deep. Gonna have to put up a fight to run out of there." She looked down at her feet.

"Yeah…"

the end.

Also, kinda sappy, yes, but you can't really have a good love story without it. I doubt I'll continue, but you never know..


End file.
